Control your 3D printer from anywhere with $65 Waggle remote control

May 18, 2017 | By Benedict

A Kickstarter is underway for Waggle, a remote control that lets you monitor and control your 3D printer from anywhere, even if the printer is an older model. Early bird backers can secure the smartphone-compatible 3D printer remote for $65.

Many modern 3D printers come with remote control capabilities—and for good reason too. Since it’s impractical to keep an eye on your 3D printer for hours at a time, it makes sense to be able to control and monitor the machine remotely. This way, prints can be aborted if something goes awry.

The thing is, many 3D printers built before the ubiquity of remote control are still great 3D printers in other respects. So what do you do? Upgrade your reliable old machine for a new one, just so you can have it linked up to your phone or tablet? Many users are forced to choose this option, even when it doesn’t seem to make financial sense.

This is why A-Team Ventures, a South Korean creative venture company, has launched Waggle, a remote control for 3D printers that is compatible with many kinds of 3D printer, old and new. The device is a bit like the Raspberry Pi-powered AstroBox launched a few year back, but A-Team reckons its new device has the edge over competing models.

Waggle is, according to its makers, “both a hardware device that plugs into your 3D printer, and a software platform that lives in the cloud to make you more efficient, and to free your creativity.” It can be used to control your 3D printer via smartphone or tablet, using both video streaming (the Waggle hardware device has a built-in camera) and data reports.

The new 3D printer remote control works by mediating between 3D printer and remote via the cloud, where users can also store and share 3D models. A-Team says the Waggle system is fully compatible with Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud, while Waggle also provides 250 MB storage on its own servers.

Waggle also comes with its own cloud-based slicing software, though users can choose to use different slicing tools if they prefer.

Best of all, Waggle is designed with total compatibility in mind. Its creators say it will support “most 3D printers running open source firmware right out of the box, and a smaller number with a simple driver upgrade (which we can provide on demand).”

A Kickstarter for Waggle has already raised over $3,700 of its stated $10,000 goal. Backers have been tempted by rewards that include the $65 Early Bird Extended (Waggle, microUSB cable, USB-B cable) and Makerspace Special (5x Waggle, 5x microUSB cable, 5x USB-B cable). The Makerspace Special could be particularly appealing for (obviously) makerspaces, but also for schools and offices where multiple 3D printers are in regular use.

To keep things fun and interesting, A-Team is even planning to create wackily shaped 3D printable stands for Waggle. Will that be enough to convince makers to waggle their cash at this project? The early promise of the Kickstarter campaign suggests it will.